FRAMINGHAM, Mass. February 17, 2009 – IDC has released a new MarketScape report profiling and ranking the leading technology vendors participating in the worldwide IT education market as a line of business (LOB) to support the sale of their technologies. IDC MarketScape vendor analysis reports utilize a rigorous scoring methodology that produces a definitive assessment of each vendor’s current market capabilities and strategies for competing in the future.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide IT Education and Training 2009 Vendor Analysis (Doc #216380) evaluates ten providers based on a comprehensive framework and set of parameters that assesses vendors relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success during the near and long-term. The vendors included in this analysis are Cisco, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lawson, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP, Sun and Symantec.

This IDC MarketScape methodology placed Red Hat in the ''Leaders'' category with a number of vendors in hot pursuit as ''Major Players'' The study also found that participating vendors are universally strong at integrating a variety of delivery options in their portfolio and are consistently improving their offerings as new approaches become viable.

The most consistent area for improvement for these ten vendors, and the marketplace as a whole, is in how training is sold. Technology vendors have an unsophisticated view of selling services in general and training in particular, and attempt to create an SKU that is convenient to attach to license sales. Only a few vendors consider an enterprise sale of education services as a consulting engagement.

''Education customers can be confident that their technology vendors are providing very good instruction in formats that are consistently improving,'' stated Cushing Anderson, program vice president, IT Education and Training Services research. ''The vendors are weakest at selling training and position training to ensure their clients maximize the benefits of the technologies they purchase.''

About IDC MarketScapes

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

For more information about IDC MarketScapes, please contact Karen Moser at kmoser@idc.com.

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